Around your Finger
by PrincessIxi
Summary: It’s said there is an invisible red thread around your finger, the end connecting to the person you love best- or that’s how it’s supposed to go.


**Title **Around your Finger

**Rating **PG-15 – for swearing

**Category **Tales of the Abyss

**Paring **- /

**Summary **It's said there is an invisible red thread around your finger, the end connecting to the person you love best- or that's how it's _supposed_ to go

**Author's Note **

Wald der Toten- Forest of the Dead

Toter- Dead/Death

Kraftfeld- force field

Red thread 'folktale' originated from CLAMP ( CardCaptor Sakura ) this is a rather old fiction that I've never got round to putting up, yeesh it's written in past tense which is something I hardly do anymore.

Luke provided the plot. I provided the no point, and I sort of bunny hop from Luke's then to Guy's pov

**Disclaimer **Hm. Not mine XD funny that

* * *

Luke was absolutely _fed up_.

If he had to put up with this for a moment longer, he was going to scream.

There was only so much one could put up with watching two people go at each other like a pair of territorial tom cats. The snide comments, shoves and glares- and for Lorelei sake they were grown _men_! Luke honestly expected better of his original and best friend.

Maybe if they stopped arguing, or glaring heatedly at each other for one merciful minute they might actually work something out between them. But nooo. It was- '_I hate your guts, go die in a ditch' 'You're a back stabbing bastard_, _I can't believe I used to look up to you' _cue throwing of anything heavy and preferably loud or the sound of someone being pushed backwards into a river. Oh Gods when were they going to get out of this forest already?!

Luke just had to be the nice guy. The peace maker. And Luke just _had_ to go open his mouth when the group had crossed Asch's path outside the forest. '_We should all go in together'_. The forest was called the Wald der Toten for a _reason, _you know. Even though it looked like a thriving forest from the outside, inside it was black and threatening, monsters everywhere. Even a God General would have a tough time not getting lost, or killed. Whatever came first. You see the Toten was known for tricking people into getting lost, and only the Toter _compass_ could lead someone out to the other side- if they survived the monster's first. Or each other.

"Master looks sad. Why is Master sad?"

The high pitched squeal of Mieu- the critter himself bouncing on Luke's lap as the boy dazed off into space.

"I'm frustrated!" Luke burst out aggressively, making Mieu fly off his lap.

"Why is Master frustrated? Is it the forest?" Mieu asked timidly, sitting up from the ground, ears perched comically.

Luke fingered a lock of short hair and sighed loudly. "Well. That too. But what I'm _really _frustrated over are those two idiots over there," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating to Asch who was peeling an apple in the branches of a white tree and Guy, who was consoling- at a distance- with the girls as they poured over the compass. Tear was pointing West, while Natalia shook her head- disagreeing over something.

"Idiots?" Mieu repeated, looking confused.

"Yes! All they ever do is jump down each other's throats, and it's driving me_ insane_," Luke explained, and the cheagle nodded sympathetically.

"Ahh. But Master argues with Asch too. Master is an idiot too."

"W-well. .at least I'm trying to make things better with him. Anyway, this isn't about me," he added quickly. "I just don't understand how they can't get along. I'm sure they must like each other. Deep down. . . _Really _deep down."

"You can't make someone like another," Mieu explained wisely, crawling back into Luke's lap so the boy could scratch him behind the ear.

". . . can't I?"

"No! Master can't," Mieu huffed indignantly.

"Why not?"

"Because it's wrong. People must learn on their own to like one another. You see Master, there's this string-"

"String?"

"Yes _string_, or thread, if Master will let me finish," Mieu shook his fur out, and sat back and told his story. "There are many many fine threads on every persons fingers. And each of these threads connect up to everyone you touch. Can Master see?" Mieu asked, lifting a tiny paw and putting it against Luke's much larger hand. "There is a thread here. There is also one on Tear, and Natalia, and Guy and even Asch. Everyone Master knows has a thread attached to them. It's a sign that you like this person. There's also a red thread-"

"So are you saying that Guy and Asch don't have a string attached to them?" Luke asked excitedly, interrupting Mieu once again. "Then I have to make sure there is one!"

Luke leaped to his feet, and dashed off, leaving Mieu crying after him- "Master, come back! Mieu has not finished telling you the rest of the tale- -"

He had been saving these for a rainy day. And right now it was pouring. Bringing the pair of them over, Luke persuaded them both to extend opposite arms, and quick as a flash, Luke slipped two identical rings onto their fingers. They resonated at once, and suddenly both Asch's and Guy's hands collided painfully together, the rings somehow being magnetised towards one another. Oh _no_.

"Hah!" Luke crowed triumphantly at the look of complete horror dawning over the men's faces, realising their hands would not come apart. "It's called the Kraftfeld Ring. Once you put them on, they won't come off. And if you have a pair, they draw together like powerful magnets."

Asch tugged hard with his right hand- only resulting in a slightly uncomfortable opposing tug as the ring resisted. He pulled the other way, then frantically waved his arm up and down only to get the same result every time. And of course the worse part- Guy's hand was sticking to his own like glue. Well. The back of their hands were stuck together at least. As a last resort, Asch unsheathed his sword. "Goodbye right hand, you served me well," and raised it.

"Waaait!" Luke took hold of Asch's wrist to stop him chopping the limb off. "I know how to get them off."

"Then do it already, dreck! I swear to_ God _I worry about your state of mind sometimes," Asch cried out in exasperation.

"Well. . you see. Um. I thought you should both take this most excellent opportunity to get to know each other a litt-"

"Give me the sword, Asch, I'll do it myself."

"No, wait. Hear me out, okay?" the red head put his hands up in surrender. The both of them watched him suspiciously, and Luke really couldn't take them seriously when they were practically holding hands. But he was a good friend, so only laughed hysterically for a few seconds. In his head. But compensated on grinning like the evil manipulative bastard he was. "Look. If you two can be nice to each other for at least one day, I'll tell you how to get the rings off."

Asch appeared to not think to fondly of this idea. "How about if I say I won't kill you afterwards? That seems fair enough."

"Because then you'll never get them off. Because your word means jack all to me."

"Luke, don't you think you're overreacting just a bit? Sure we don't get along, but it's not like we do it constantly. Unlike some people I could mention," Guy raised his eyebrows at Luke who was in complete contradiction with himself for just arguing with his other half. He huffed back.

"At least I try. You two are just unbearable. And I _know _you two like each other under all that. So enjoy the next twenty four hours together," with a winning smile, Luke made a getaway before either of them could get a grip on his throat and strangle the living day lights out of him.

Even with the rings on, Guy couldn't exactly feel Asch's hand, their gauntlets were thick enough to give the impression there was just dead weight clinging to his fingers instead of an actual limb. "Don't take him to seriously, Asch-" Guy started to say, but stopped when he noticed the younger male wasn't even looking at him. In fact he got the impression he wasn't even acknowledging his very _presence_. Stubborn green eyes were looking at the ground, and for a while Guy thought he was about to boil over in anger. Until Asch peered back up at him and revealed he was blushing crimson. Okay- maybe it _was_ embarrassing, and not even Guy could say he'd been forced to hold hands with someone for an entire day before, let alone someone he _disliked_.

He quickly looked away, wishing Asch would just start screaming because that was something normal and easy to deal with.

"This is so mortifying, I can't believe he did this," Asch hissed, talking hold of Guy's wrist, and started to _really _pull this time. Guy automatically pulled the opposite way until-

"Ow!"

He could have sworn the bugger had almost pulled his ring finger out of its socket. "Stop it, moron!" Guy yelped, and tugged so forcefully they bumped shoulders as Asch was knocked off kilter. Glaring at each other, Guy stuck the bound hands before them like a peace offering. "Look. If Luke says there's only one way to get them off, then it's probably true."

"No. There's _always _another way," Asch argued angrily.

"Yeah? And that other way happens to be putting up with one another."

"You know that's _not_ what I meant."

They lapsed into silence, and Guy knew Asch could do that for _hours_, so broke eye contact and gave up gracefully with a sigh. He was going to suggest they should probably head back to the group, when there was a growl from the skeletal trees, and Guy knew that their situation was going southwards fast.

Not keeping to their large group was a stupid idea, and it was bound to happen sometime. Three hybrid monsters strutted out from the gloom, and they hadn't named them yet, but they looked like wolverines or maybe a type of small bear with spikes and claws and other horrible appendages.

Asch went for his sword hilt and- Guy's hand came round with him. Guy was attached to his sword arm. Oh great. In the confusion, the monsters took their chance and pounced. All ready it was blindingly obvious it wasn't going to work. Asch went to tumble out of the way as he was defenceless, but Guy had his rapier out and tried to shift the other way- resulting in a huge mess of fur and limbs and teeth everywhere.

Guy was just glad nobody's head had been chewed off yet as they all fell over backwards and the beast started to roll with them- and hey there was a slope behind them. The other two monsters peered after them, then walked away to find an easier meal. Picking up speed Guy thrust his blade out and caught the creature in the head, batting him off- but now with the extra weight off them they fell even faster until it was impossible to stop without scrapping their fingers raw or breaking bones. They tumbled off the edge of the forest floor and down into a ravine. There were plenty of little sink holes and cracks in the ground all over the forest. The roots were so strong and solid, and ground so deprived of water the roots had just cracked the dusty ground and formed them over the years.

They weren't shallow either. Over and over they flipped and slammed into the rough walls until Guy saw it was impossible to keep this up without resulting in the concussion of someone, so wrapped his free arm protectively around Asch so they dropped straight down. Then something started to tug at the back of his shirt- and oh _God._ The walls were sloping _inwards, _sharp pebbles starting to tear at his clothes and he could kiss the hand that was around Asch goodbye because that was being butchered beyond believe too. The only good thing was they were starting to slow down, and possibly weren't about to hit the ground and, well, _die_. The horrible down side to this was that things were getting cramped _fast _and if they _didn't_ hit the ground and die. . . they were going to be- stuck. The scraping and sound of thousands of dirt particles falling halted as they were both bodily jammed together, the gap much too small for two bodies to slide any further.

Feeling bits of rumble and branches falling on top of his head as everything settled back down, Guy was keenly aware of the pressure of the wall digging into his back, the uncomfortable squirming of Asch in front of him, and his hand behind Asch's back quickly loosing blood and feeling as the realisation of their now much more physical entrapment took hold.

The rain of dirt slowed to a small trickle and now the only sound was their rapid breathing.

"Are you okay?" Guy decided to go down the safest path, because it was so dark down in the crevasse he couldn't tell where his body started and where Asch's ended and voicing that could led to all kinds of awkwardness.

Asch was just plain _bothered_ by the whole closeness of everything, and even though his armour was thick, Guy was close enough so he could feel every word he said through his chest. He tried to pull back, or wriggle away, or something.

"Waitwait, don't more," Guy said quickly.

"Why?" Asch growled.

"Because. . we've _stopped_. And, I don't know about you, but my feet _aren't_ touching the ground yet. If we move too much, we might start falling again," his logic made Asch reconsider and he stopped his activities.

"How do we get out then?" Asch asked slowly, for the first time fearing they might be stuck here until they died. Or one of them killed the other. Or hey, maybe an ugly monster would crawl down and eat them alive, _that _would be fun.

". . let me think."

"Think _faster_."

"I would, if you would just shut up!"

Asch snarled in frustration, and craned his head around to look for _anything_ that might help. Above them was a strip of white light, indicating the outside world. So very far away.

"Do you think you could lean forwards a bit more?" Guy broke the silence bizarrely, and Asch simply stared at him. Then remembered he couldn't see his face.

"I'm _pretty _sure I can't get any closer to you, Guy," he said dryly. Well right now it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, you idiot. My hand is trapped behind you. Maybe if I can get it free. . " he trailed off because his master plan hadn't evolved _that_ far yet. At least Asch got the message, because Guy felt him trying to move, misjudging because of the impossible darkness and bump his nose on Guy's chin painfully as he pushed forward.

"Happy?"

With an acknowledging grunt, Guy moved his arm, but found it trapped further down than he thought. Just below Asch's shoulder blades and wedged firmly. ". . no. Can't you move anymore?"

Making a frustrated noise, Asch fidgeted for a heartbeat, then Guy felt a sudden build of pressure on his chest as the red head found the room to move that inch closer by curving his spine inwards. With a grateful sigh Guy got the remains of his hand out from under him.

"Stay put, I've an idea."

"_What?!_" Asch hissed in outrage, no wanting to spend a second longer this close to the blonde if he could help it. But miraculously, Guy now had the room to slide down beneath him, grinning in triumph and bracing his legs as support.

"Okay. Now we can climb up."

"And _how_ pray tell, so we do that with hands bound together?"

". . . _shit_," in that moment of small victory he'd somehow managed to _forget_ about that obvious detail. He felt Asch practically vibrate in anger, and a second later a steel clad boot hit him squarely in the chest and the movement dislodged Guy and caused them to scrape and fall-

For about a second.

Guy landed hard on his back, wind knocking out of him as Asch collapsed on top of him. A patter of grit followed soon after. It seemed the ground hadn't been too far away after all. It appeared from touch and smell they had landed in sand, which was probably just dirt fined down from all the years. It was possibly even darker than before.

Weakly, Asch rolled off of him, coughing up air. Guy was still trying to breathe evenly. He felt his injured hand being picked up, and the hot breath of Asch as he tried to see it.

"Is it hurt?"

Taking a second more, Guy spoke at last. "I can't exactly see it, and it's still numb from-" he halted. ". . huh. Are you actually concerned about me, Asch?"

"It's bleeding, you stupid moron. And if we're down here for a while, and that thing get's infected, we're screwed."

"Why does everything you say, even when your trying to be nice, end up as an insult?"

Peering blindly round the area, Guy started to think their predicament was looking rather hopeless as he could hardly see his hand in front of his face, let alone see a way out. Something pinched at his hand and Guy yelped again. "Geez, what are you doing?"

"I tied it up, you wuss. Now close your eyes."

"Why-Gah!"

Light flared suddenly as Asch produced a small satchel that opened to a revealed a swarm of tiny fireflies. Guy blinked hastily to clear his vision and in the unnatural light, the noticed that they both looked pretty awful. Covered in dirt and cuts and flecks of blood.

Spearing a bemused smile at one another's dishevelled appearance, they finally got a good look at their surroundings and Guy found the beginnings of an exit on the eastern wall. The ground slid upwards, and seemed the most promising of granting them a way out.

And not only did it lead back to the surface, as they emerged wearily Guy could very distantly make out the frantic voices of their group.

Guy had developed a nasty limp over the few hours' worth of surviving a fall, Asch, and then climbing, and was sure something was knocked out of place, so they slowly made their way through the spindly white trees and uneven ground, towards their friends.

"Ah!" the squeal of Anise's bodiless voice sounded, moments later appearing over a tree root and she bounced energetically up and down and pointed openly at them. "Luke!! I found them, they're over here!"

"_Goodness _what an earth have you two been doing?" Jade asked in amusement, as everyone poured across the gnarled roots to greet them, Luke at the front with concern written over his face.

"What happened? We were so worried about you two."

Then Asch stepped forward as if to greet Luke, but a second later raised his free hand and smacked it hard across his other halves face. Everyone was so taken aback they said nothing to stop him, so Asch took the time to add in his two cents. "You stupid, goddamn bastard! I've just been through possibly the third most painful experience in my life, and you give me some bull about being _worried _about us. You were probably having a good laugh at us, because you _wanted _this. This was your, your. . bloody _genius _scheme so don't you dare-"

"Enough!"

Guy jerked their hands hard, like it was a choker chain around Asch's neck and would pull him back into submission. On the contrary, Asch's face was beyond livered, taking sadistic joy as Luke rubbed his nicely flushing cheek.

"Asch," Tear accused, putting a protective hand on Luke's shoulder as the boy looked at the ground. "Luke's heart was in the right place when he did this. He just wants to see you two happy-"

"You _knew_," the red head growled so venomously it made Guy shiver and wish on every God he knew that his hand would just drop off so he could run for it.

"Of course we knew. When you two idiots didn't show up after an hour, Luke had to tell us," Natalia huffed. "Because we were _worried_," she spoke like her once fiancée was a little slow in that area. Which he no doubt was. Asch made an indifferent little _hn_ noise and turned his head away, not even bothering to apologise to Luke.

". . Luke, will you tell us how to take these off now?" Guy asked gently, as his friend continued to look at the ground with a sorrowful expression.

"I suppose. . all you need to do is-" then Mieu started to squeak excitedly, practically cart wheeling in the air.

"Look Master, look!" he exclaimed, flying over to Guy and Asch and indicated their joint hands. "There's a string."

Guy looked down, fully expecting to _see _this so called string, but all he saw was the rings and Asch's hand. . .huh? "String?" he questioned nervously, as Luke's face transformed brilliantly as he picked up their bound hands and waved them in their faces.

"Really?"

"Mieu is sure."

"Wahoo!"

Seriously starting to question his friend's sanity, Guy glanced at Asch, who seemed beyond the point of caring. "See, see?" Luke beamed, touching his finger to the rings. "There's a joining string around your fingers."

Grinning widely, he slipped the rings off quickly. "I'm surprised you two didn't try this first- no matter how much you tug at the other person hand, they'll never come off. But you just need to slip them off physically and they will."

Boggling at him, Guy decided the safest thing was not to answer while Asch steamed crimson, then stormed off to broad by himself for a while.

* * *

"Asch, come on_nn. _At least let me look at your wounds."

"Go away! I don't want to see your ugly face for as long as I live."

". . You can't possibly stay in that tree all day."

"I can. And I _will- ouch! _You barbarian, don't throw rocks at me!"

"Then stop being a brat and- _hey _now, that had barbs in it. Don't play mean."

"Then why don't you come up here and teach me a lesson- oh wait, I know why. Because you're too scared I'll beat the crap out of you."

". . . that's it. You asked for it!"

"Why is Master so happy?"

Luke was grinning, leaning back against a burnt tree stump as he watched Guy masterfully scale the tree to where Asch was sulking, lobbing pine cones at his head. It was just shy of an hour after everything had happened.

"Because they're getting along."

". . .Mieu doesn't think that is what "getting along" means," the cheagle said doubtfully, but Luke wasn't listening. He let the playful bickering wash over him and fade, fully aware of the grin on Guy's face, and the faint blush on Asch's cheeks to know that he would finally get some peace from the two of them.

* * *

**-END**


End file.
